


Deku: The Pokemon Master Hero

by Tylanoid



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, DekuhasaPokemonquirk, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23867599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tylanoid/pseuds/Tylanoid
Summary: Fire breathing or a telekinetic pull of small objects. One of those or some combination of the two was what Izuku expected from his quirk. What he wasn't expecting was the ability to summon fantastical creatures. Creatures that have powers of their very own. AUFic. QuirkDeku.
Comments: 24
Kudos: 145





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"I'm sorry, Mrs Midoriya," the quirk doctor had told Izuku's mother months ago. "There's a very real chance that while your son has a quirk, evidenced by his toe joint, it's simply so subtle that we have no idea what it is. Perhaps he takes in more than the usual amount of oxygen, or his skin remains hydrated for longer than the average person. Subtle quirks are far more common than you might expect."

Subtle.

Common.

Average.

_Useless._

Izuku has spent months trying to wrap his head around such words—to accept the fact that his dream of becoming a hero like All Might is destined to failure. Even at seven years old he knows how impactive the quirk doctors assessment is. To be a hero one needs a strong quirk, something better than 'the ability to breathe _really_ well,' like the doctor had implied he probably has.

Of course it doesn't help that Kacchan and the rest of his class have more visible, useful quirks. In fact, it just serves to set Izuku apart—the boy with the quirk that does nothing. It's a fact that causes endless humiliation and earns him the pity of the boy who is supposed to be his friend. Now that Kacchan has a quirk and Izuku doesn't, everything is different. Not that kindness was ever really a quality that could be applied to Katsuki Bakugou, but his personality shifts with the new social order, with him and his explosion quirk right at the top. With Izuku right at the bottom, there was never a possibility of things remaining the same.

Pity. Exclusion. Kacchan's new treatment of Izuku holds elements of both, and it _should_ be breaking him down—making him feel so alienated from the rest of them that he feels as useless as Kacchan is trying to imply. Instead, his words are the catalyst for his _real_ quirk to show itself.

"You can't play with us anymore, _Deku,_ " Kacchan frowns, planting his hands firmly on Izuku's shoulders, as though he can press his point into Izuku's brain through a firm grip. His hands let off thin wispy trails of smoke from the chemical reaction of his nitroglycerin sweat. Izuku can feel the heat radiating off them as they threaten to burn the skin on his face and neck, not that Kacchan can fully control that, yet.

Izuku winces at the nickname. He shudders and shies away from Katsuki's touch, trying to squeeze his way out of the boy's tight hold. Katsuki lets go with a superior smirk and steps back. Despite his words, actually hurting Izuku has never seemed to be his goal. Izuku simply doesn't have a quirk now, so playing games with them now could end up being dangerous for the 'might as well be quirkless,' Deku—at least according to Kacchan's logic.

"This is what a _real_ quirk looks like," the blonde boy announces, lifting his hand into the air to let his quirk crackle with mini explosions across his palm. Izuku stands against the wall and swallows his jealousy, feeling small before the potential might of Kacchan's quirk. How is it at all fair that a boy like Kacchan is able to make explosions with his hands while Izuku possibly has a quirk like 'incredibly hydrated skin?'

It simply isn't. True equality is a thing of the past. In the world of quirks, one person is not necessarily of as much value as another.

"It's not our fault you don't have a quirk," Kacchan shrugs. "But if we play with you now we have to do something _boring_ so you don't get hurt." His red eyes gleam in the sun shining on the playground of their primary school.

Izuku frowns, trying to smother the combination of confusion and rage forming in his stomach. "I told you I've got a quirk, Kacchan!" he cries out. "I just don't know what it is yet! Why are you being so mean?"

Kacchan's face contorts, his young face still displaying a sense of superiority that should be nigh on impossible to mimic at his age. "My mum said that Auntie Inko told her that you've got a _useless_ quirk. You can't play heroes and villains with us anymore if you don't have a good quirk, _Deku."_

Izuku's eyes blur with oncoming tears, but he's never been one to give up. "I can too! I'll still be just like All Might, you'll see!"

Kacchan shakes his head firmly with an annoyed huff. "Well maybe we should play right now! I'll be the hero and attack, and you have to use your quirk to fight me off!"

Kacchan is probably expecting Izuku to say no so his point improved, but instead he hardens his expressions, nods and lifts his small, flimsy fists into the air. His arms are thin and pale, his shoulders hunched as he huddles against the wall for support. There is only one thought running through his head, one feeling that overrides every other sensation. He just wants Kacchan to _shut up_ about his lack of a useful quirk _._

 _I_ _**will** _ _be a hero._ _**I will.** _

Kacchan lifts his hands again to let off the small firecracker explosions across his outstretched palms. "Ready, Deku?" Looking doggedly determined to prove his point, Kacchan runs at Deku. No doubt he doesn't want to _really_ hurt Izuku, but Kacchan is filled with righteous confidence—to his own mind, he couldn't possibly be wrong. If he needs to hurt Izuku to make him understand just how right he is, he will. Following through has never been an issue for Katsuki Bakugou. He runs at Izuku full pelt, nitroglycerin coated hands outstretched before him. A snarl is etched onto his face.

Izuku on the other hand pushes his back into the wall, his face caught halfway between grim determination and complete and utter fear. He cries out with a word he's never uttered before, a word that he has no idea the meaning of. It just springs into his mind and straight out his mouth like word vomit. In his mind's eye a strange creature flashes. A green caterpillar with big black eyes, a yellow underbelly and a teardrop shaped tail.

" _Caterpie!"_

Izuku shields his eyes with his arms, hunching low against the wall for any kind of defense against the oncoming blows. They never come. Kacchan should have been on him nearly immediately, but time seems to stretch out, and the attack never comes. Instead, Izuku listens to gasps and whispers from nearby. He slowly lifts the arms from in front of his face to see what happened.

Kacchan is tied up on the ground in a heap in thick, white string. His mouth has been tied closed as he grunts and growls and scratches at the string with his fingers. It does him no good. He's been completely incapacitated, limbs twisted together like he's on his way to becoming a human pretzel. Yet the onlookers who are gasping and whispering to each other aren't looking at Kacchan. They're looking at the giant caterpillar sitting on the ground at Izuku's feet.

Izuku blinks once. It's the same creature that had appeared in his minds in the moments before Kacchan was going to attack. What was it he had said? 'Caterpie?"

Izuku watches the creature with abject fascination. He moves to kneel down and reach for one of the yellow rings on its segmented body, but his hand never quite makes it. The creature disappears, vanishing into thin air as though it was never there in the first place. The string that had wrapped up Kacchan like a Christmas gift remains in place.

As the creature disappears, white swirls in Izuku's vision and he doubles over, pain pulsing between his temples and his ears. His knees hit the ground and he crumples, folding in on himself. Before he loses consciousness, he hears one of his classmates go running for a teacher.

"Miss! Miss! Izuku has a quirk!"

Izuku smiles even as pain explodes behind his eyes and his world goes dark.


	2. Chapter 1 - Sludge vs… Gel? Goo?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! If any of you have read my other fics you might know that I like to advertise my discord server every now and again before a chapter. It's a server specifically dedicated to fanfiction, and there's a channel for fic recs (of which theres alot, and always people online to ask for good ones from basically any fandom), also for help with your own writing if you write yourself. I also update people on how my writing is going on all my fics and where I'm generally at. There's nearly 70 people in the server now and its active every single day. 
> 
> https://discord.gg/PyujsA

**Chapter 1 - Sludge vs… Gel? Goo?**

"This aptitude test is a waste of time," Bakugou growls. "Lumping me in with the rest of these damn _extras…_ as if this school wasn't crappy enough already." He kicks his legs up to rest on the corner of the desk in front of his, despite one of his classmates already sitting there. The girl turns to glare at him, but one look at his bared teeth and blood red eyes is enough for her to be turning back around with a small squeak.

Izuku shrugs and rubs the back of his neck in sheepish disagreement. He shoots the girl in front of Bakugou an apologetic smile on his friend's behalf, but she's purposefully looking away from their conversation, probably out of fear of upsetting the explosive tempered boy behind her. "I dunno, Kacchan, not everyone is as sure as you are about what they want to do with their future," Izuku says.

"Sure as _we_ are," Bakugou corrects with a grunt, leaning back as though his stiff wooden chair is actually a lounge recliner. The teacher narrows his eyes as he listens to Bakugou from across the room where he gathers their completed tests, but he says nothing, more than likely not wishing to flare the boy's rage over something as minor as placing his feet on the furniture. With Bakugou, it doesn't matter who does the challenging—authority figure or classmate. Any attempt at controlling his actions is usually met with utter ferocity.

"What?" Izuku raises a curious eyebrow.

"As sure as _we_ are," Bakugou repeats. "You can't fool me, stupid Deku. You wrote down UA's hero course as your top choice as well, didn't you." He phrases it as a statement rather than a question. More than that, he's actually _saying_ it, rather than shouting it out, a signifier of just how serious he is. So much of what Bakugou usually has to say comes out as a shout or a snarl, so when he speaks in low tones it usually tells Izuku that he should pay attention.

Izuku lowers his gaze to his hands rested on the desk. He forms them into fists and speaks in a quiet voice. "Yeah. You know I want to go to All Might's alma mater."

Bakugou scoffs. "Yeah, well, do what you want, _Deku._ I'm still going to be the first student from this crappy school to get into UA. You've got no chance with that stupid butterfly you have for a quirk—or whatever the fuck it is."

Izuku presses his lips together in a thin white line. _"His_ name is Butterfree, and he's plenty strong enough to get into UA!"

Bakugou scrunches up his nose as though he suddenly smells something unsavory. "I suppose it's better than the worm it used to be, and then whatever the hell it was supposed to be during its puberty or whatever—"

"It was not _puberty!"_ Izuku says firmly. "It was a _cocoon._ You know, caterpillar to butterfly?"

Bakugou smirks, throwing one of his legs over the other and nearly kicking the girl in front of him in the face. The girl has to scoot her chair over to the edge of her desk, and of course, she's still steadfastly ignoring what's unfolding behind her. "Whatever," he waves his hand to disregard Izuku. "Maybe if you could summon something a little cooler you'd at least have a shot. Maybe you should be applying to one of those D list hero schools instead."

Izuku nearly rolls his eyes. It's not a topic worth arguing. Bakugou is nothing if not stubborn, and Izuku knows he's not saying it to be mean, or, at least that's not the _only_ reason. They're still friends after all, of a sort anyway. It's more just that Bakugou is honest to the point of near brutal cruelty. Izuku has learned the hard way not to ask Bakugou a question unless he's ready to hear the boy's _true_ opinion. Bakugou is not the type of person one would go to for mollycoddling.

"Besides, what're you gonna do if some villain defeats your bug? Any villain with a decent quirk could at _least_ get around it and attack you. What are you gonna do to stop them, skinny Deku that you are?"

_Sometimes he goes a little too far. Or maybe I just can't take the truth about that…_

Izuku looks away, resting his chin on his hands atop his desk. "Point taken, Kacchan," he says in a quiet voice, almost inaudible. "I'm still applying for UA though…"

Bakugou scoffs a second time, though he seems unsurprised. "I said you could do whatever you want, Deku. Just don't be surprised if I have to take you down in the entrance exam. I'll incinerate my competition no matter who it is!" He's back to shouting now, baring his teeth for the rest of the class to see, a wicked glint in his eye. "That goes for the rest of you nerds, too!"

Izuku lets out a sigh and reaches for the notepad in the top of his backpack. Going over his notes for Butterfree and those he's jotted down about hero and villain quirks sounds like a much better use of his time than listening to Bakugou get in another argument with the rest of the class about how much better he is than them.

"Bring it on! I'll take you all on at once!" Bakugou shouts, explosions crackling along his palms like firecrackers. Finally the teacher steps in, chastising Bakugou with the same wagging finger he always uses. As Bakugou argues his superiority over all of them, teacher included, Izuku begins to read, well practiced now at channeling out the chaos that comes with being around Bakugou so much.

* * *

" _Butterfree!"_

It feels like being able to breathe fresh air again after being caught in smog all day when Izuku finally summons Butterfree at the end of the school day. He waits until he's alone, walking down the much quieter back streets of the city and avoiding the busier urban areas where he's more likely to get pulled up for using his quirk.

Technically, what he's doing is illegal outside of his home. Using quirks in public, outside of life and death situations, is strictly against the law—hence him taking the long way home via the quieter streets where it's less likely to be an issue. Despite it being illegal, most people tend not to question people using their quirks when it's quiet. In crowded areas where they could be dangerous, sure, but not when Izuku is walking home alone with nobody else around.

The giant butterfly appears from nothingness to Izuku's left, its white patterned wings fluttering quickly to hover at his side. It takes only a glance to see that Butterfree is no normal butterfly. Firstly, it's well over half as big as Izuku himself, its body long and purple and made up of two distinct parts. The top part of its face consists of two thin black antennae, a small bright blue snout, and expressive red eyes. It has two small hands with three fingers each and long, digitless feet. Its wings are taller than the whole of its body, probably about three quarters of Izuku's entire height.

Izuku can't help but agree with people who tell him his quirk is a bit weird. Butterfree is like no other creature on the planet, and he's definitely spent time online searching. That's not to even mention what Butterfree is capable of besides its incredible appearance.

Somehow it can emit powders that, if breathed in, can either make its target sleep, feel sick for a while, or even temporarily become paralyzed, depending on what Izuku wants. Kacchan can call Butterfree useless all he wants, but to Izuku those powers alone seem pretty effective. Hell, the hero Midnight only has _one_ of those abilities as her quirk, and she's a seasoned pro! Butterfree might not be effective in every situation, but he's definitely good enough that Izuku can become a hero—he's _sure_ of it.

"Free!" Butterfree calls out in a voice that warbles like a whistle. He flies over Izuku's head and around in a loop before coming down and landing directly on the top of his head, flattening his shock of wild green hair. Like Caterpie and Metapod before it, the only sound the creature can make is it's own name, or perhaps Izuku has named them _because_ of the sound they make. Their names have always sort of come to him instinctively anyway, so maybe it isn't even him doing the naming even subconsciously. Most days, his quirk is an enigma even to him.

Despite being the same creature that has transformed twice now, each form has sounded very different, almost like it has had a different personality to match each unique appearance. Caterpie's voice always seemed rather emotionless, Metapod's almost robotic, but Butterfree's on the other hand always makes Izuku want to smile. It's filled with the utmost joy, as though the world is chock full of rainbows, sunshine, and not much else. Even the way it flutters around as a picturesque epitome of beauty and grace acts as a symbol of its carefree spirit.

Izuku reaches up over his head to pat Butterfree's purple body. He lets out a contented sigh. Despite the strain the summoning takes on his energy, and the fact that it almost always results in a splitting headache, he'd always prefer to have Butterfree summoned and with him. Having the creature spirited inside him, or wherever Butterfree goes when not summoned, feels too much like hiding a part of himself away—like what the world sees is only a part of who he truly is.

"That's better, isn't it?" he says, talking to himself as much as to his summon. "I hate not being able to have you around…"

Butterfree shifts on his head and lets out his agreement with a warbling hum. Out his peripheral vision, Butterfree's wings spread out wide as he stretches and loosens his tense muscles and limbs. Just a moment later he's taking flight again, flying high above Izuku's head as he continues down the quiet streets.

"So, this is where you go, Deku!" Bakugou's sudden shout follows him down the empty street like an echo.

"Kacchan?" Izuku turns with a surprised, but shaky smile to see the boy sitting on a fence post behind him and watching him with his sharp gaze. After a moment, Bakugou slowly raises his head to watch Butterfree fluttering in lazy circles above. Izuku hunches his shoulders and tries not to meet Bakugou's piercing stare once it again focuses on himself.

Bakugou begins to laugh, clutching his stomach in mock hilarity as he hops off the fence post. "Do you seriously go this far out of your way to get home just so you can use your quirk without getting caught?" He tuts and shakes his head. "Making a devious plan to use your quirk in public? You're practically a villain."

Izuku fights the urge to roll his eyes. "But telling people you're going to explode their face is the hallmark of heroic behavior?" he counters quietly. It forces a wicked grin onto Bakugou's face. Anybody else that challenges him gets the rough end of his raging temper except Izuku for some reason; he loves the defiance instead. Still, this walk with Butterfree is normally the most calm part of his day, so he's not really in the mood for an argument, no matter if it's all in good fun.

"Why'd you follow me?" Izuku asks, trying to direct the conversation in a different direction.

Bakugou takes several long, quick strides so that he can walk besides Izuku. "Dumb Deku," he says, flicking Izuku between the eyes. "We're practically neighbors. Did you think I wouldn't notice you suddenly taking the longest possible way home?"

In all honesty, he _hadn't_ actually thought it would be noticed. Half the time Bakugou disappears with Tsubasa and some of the other boys from their school after classes end anyway, so it's not like they really walk home together all that often. Not to mention, the reality of Bakugou's character is that he's always been extraordinarily self-absorbed. The fact he actually cares enough to follow Izuku comes as something of a shock.

Izuku shrugs his shoulders. "Butterfree needs space to really fly around, and he doesn't get that at home in the apartment…" Bakugou says nothing, simply stares up at the giant butterfly fluttering above.

"So, that's the only reason you followed me? You were curious where I was going after school?" Izuku adds quietly after a pause, almost afraid of the response. Still, his curiosity outweighs his fear of the other boy's retribution.

"I can do whatever the fuck I want Deku. Don't ask stupid questions," Bakugou yells in response before speaking in a much lower register. "It's not like I followed you because I care what you're doing or anything." Bakugou glances in the other direction. A small smile flashes across Izuku's face. Knowing Bakugou, that's more or less an admission that he _does_ care.

That, and the fact that Bakugou only ever tells the truth as he sees it and nothing less, is the only reason Izuku has to ask the next question. Much as he tries to shake it, an uncomfortable thought floats around in his mind—the same question he's been trying not to focus on for years. After the aptitude test, though, and with high school life looming ever closer before them, it's becoming impossible not to dwell on.

"Kacchan… do you really think I won't make a good hero with my quirk?" Izuku waits for his friend's response with wide, green eyes, nearly brimming with tears. He already knows what Bakugou is going to say, but still some part of him deep inside flares with hope. Becoming a hero like All Might is all he's ever wanted. To hear that he can't, even with a quirk… it feels like enough to break him.

Bakugou lifts a hand to his chin, as though genuinely hearing the seriousness in Izuku's voice and not willing to just answer with a usual insult about how his quirk couldn't possibly compare to the brilliance of his own.

"Your quirk would be annoying to a lot of the stupid, fucking villains out there," he starts, "but all it would take is for someone to take down the butterfly, or whatever the fuck it is, and you'd be squashed like the bug you summon." He shrugs, "Just calling it as I see it, Deku."

Even knowing what Bakugou would have to say about it, actually hearing the words come back at him twice in one day is like having cracks appear in every dream he's ever had. It's like he's been watching all his hopes drift outside a window, barely out of range, just waiting for the chance where he might be able to reach past and grab them. However, he's now accepting that he will never be able to break past the glass. Even though he knows Butterfree's true worth, he can't deny the truth of Kacchan's words, either. Against some of the villains that All Might has had to face throughout his career, Butterfree would almost certainly not be enough.

Before he can answer, a shout from the streets nearby sounds in his ears like the ring of a cannon.

"TEXAS SMASH!" The shout that reverberates throughout the alleys and buildings all around them is so full of determination and strength that it makes Izuku's eyes water. A rush of air comes at them in a forceful gale, almost strong enough to not just knock Izuku off his feet, but Kacchan as well.

_All Might…_

"Come on!" Bakugou is running forward just a mere second later, beckoning behind him for Izuku to follow. Like Izuku, there is no way Bakugou would ever mistake the sound of _that_ voice. With as little hesitation as his childhood friend shows, Izuku follows. The thought of seeing All Might is too much—it completely overwhelms any negative thoughts he'd been feeling just a moment before. More than that, it overrides all logic as well. Hearing All Might shout his signature move has to mean there's a villain about, which means danger, but to Izuku it doesn't matter one bit. To see his idol up close and in person…

Sure enough, as he and Bakugou emerge from the back alley and onto the main streets, All Might is standing in the dead center of the road. He's not wearing his hero costume like expected. Instead, he's dressed in a tight, white tee and beige cargo pants. Even so, he looks more heroic than anybody Izuku has ever seen. Just like in his pictures and videos, All Might stands as a giant of a man, easily twice the size of Izuku himself, with arms and legs like tree trunks.

"All Might!" Izuku finds himself calling out.

The number one hero turns to face them with a symbolic smile—the one he wears constantly, no matter the danger and no matter the circumstances. "Hey there, kids!" he says through his persistent smile. "Sorry, no time to chat today, gotta run!" Without another word he's jumping high into the air, defying gravity like a hero from the greatest comic books. As he takes off from the ground, his water bottle falls from the pocket on his cargo pants from the sheer force of his movements.

Izuku is short of breath. He'd give anything to get All Might back to talk, even if it's not the question he wants to ask most—the same question that he'd asked Kacchan. Just to ask his perspective about being a hero, to find out what makes him tick and what drives him… that would be enough. Still, just seeing him in person for the first time is an experience he'll never forget.

"He dropped his bottle, the _dumbass_ ," Bakugou says, reaching down to pick it up from where it's rolled towards him. "What the hell kind of crap does he drink, though? This is fucking _rank_."

Izuku eyes the clear bottle with curiosity. Much as he doesn't like Bakugou's tone, considering he's talking about the number one hero and the person the _both_ of them admire most, he has to agree. The liquid inside the bottle is thick and greenish brown, almost like sewage. Even the lid closed on the bottle is not enough to contain the foul stench.

"You collect All Might's stuff, yeah?" Bakugou asks holding the bottle out towards Izuku, "You want this crap?"

Izuku reaches for the bottle. As disgusting as whatever is inside, he figures it will surely wash out. It might not be much, but All Might's actual water bottle? That sounds like something to add to his collection for sure. Kacchan doesn't call him 'fanboy' for nothing.

As soon as his hands wrap around the plastic, the liquid inside moves. Not just with the movement of the bottle, but in a more unnatural way, swirling around inside like it's generating its own personal twister. The lid pops off the bottle and the foul smelling liquid escapes onto the floor, and Izuku hastily drops the bottle and its contents.

"What the fuck?" Bakugou shouts. "Deku, get the fuck away from that shit."

When Izuku takes a small step back the liquid moves with him, pooling together on the floor before flying off the ground like a sewage filled rocket aimed for his face.

"Oi, Deku, watch out!"

Izuku's vision goes dark.

* * *

Izuku wakes on the cold concrete path with a splitting headache. His eyes are gluey and blurred as he groans and pulls himself into a sitting position causing a spike of pain that ignites in the back of his head. His groggy brain tries to restart itself to work out what the hell had actually happened.

_Kacchan. That weird slime…_

His memories come flooding back to him in a stream, making him dart to his feet despite the pounding in his head. For a moment, he sways unsteadily and the world seems to shift, but he blinks his way back to reality, looking at his surroundings through squinted eyes. The street is totally barren, as though his normally overpopulated neighborhood has suddenly become a ghost town.

For a moment he considers summoning Butterfree, but given the headache throbbing between his ears it seems like a bad idea. Either way, it's not like Butterfree could shed any light on the situation. No doubt the creature had disappeared the second he lost consciousness.

A couple of blocks over, emergency sirens blare, cutting through the silence of the empty street. As the fog in his mind clears, he registers the sound of distant shouts and cries of desperation like a disaster scene in an action movie. For the briefest moment, Izuku doesn't think much of it. In the age of quirks and superpowers, such sounds are heard every now and again, even with the symbol of peace All Might keeping a firm control over the rate of crime compared to other countries.

But a huge explosion cuts over everything, smashing windows of buildings and cars and causing a rush of air to nearly knock Izuku off his feet for the second time that day. After so many years hearing so many explosions, both small and large, Izuku would recognize the sound anywhere.

It's Kacchan, and he's openly using his quirk in public. That can only mean one thing.

_He's in danger!_

Izuku is running towards the source of the explosion in almost the same moment he hears it, ignoring the pain in his head and the stiffness of his limbs. There's not much in the way of logical thought going through his head, only a sheer determination to reach his friend.

He's running so fast he nearly trips on his own feet as he rounds the corner into the streets, the constant explosions getting louder and louder the closer he gets. Now he can hear a gathered crowd shouting and watching with abject horror with heroes trying to control the crowd and regain control of the situation.

_Why aren't they helping Kacchan?_

The answer to his question becomes immediately clear when Izuku makes it to the scene of the disaster. Even through the crowd he can see Kacchan, struggling against the same slime from All Might's bottle sticking to his limbs as he tries to break free.

Where before the slime was only enough to fill a small plastic bottle, now it's enough mass to potentially cover several people at least, drowning them in its voluminous filth. Swirling around in the sludge where it is desperately trying to restrain Bakugou from escaping its confines is a distinctive face—two white eyes and a wildly grinning mouth floating around in the muck.

Against a villain with such a strange quirk, the gathered heroes can do nothing. Backdraft has his hands full holding the crowd back from the danger. Kamui Woods and Death Arms watch from nearby, looking desperate and helpless before their foe. Mount Lady stands at the other end of the alley towering over all of them, her giant size too big to intervene without destroying everything around. Despite how incredible their quirks may be, strength and an ability to grow and shape the wood his body is made of aren't likely to help any of them break Bakugou free from the sticky liquid of the villain's quirk.

Izuku pushes through the crowd, nearly knocking over a sickly thin, blonde haired man gripping an electrical pole at the back and barging through the throngs of horrified onlookers.

"Get off me you bastard!" Bakugou screams at the top of his lungs and lets out another massive explosion, though the blast is diminished with his hands covered by the sludge. Izuku breaks to the front of the crowd and cries out his name. Even with the roar of the crowd behind him, along with the flames from his explosions burning around them, Bakugou shifts his red gaze to Izuku.

It's the most profound moment in Izuku's life. Bakugou is completely restrained now, the sludge forcing its way between his lips and around the majority of his body, as though it's trying to suck him inside and suffocate him. His red eyes, where normally all confidence and bravado, are shimmering with tears.

Time seems to come to an end, and the moment drags into eternity. Bakugou's red eyes meet Izuku's green.

Izuku's feet are moving before his mind can even begin to process what's happening. His entire body is moving nearly on instinct. He ducks under Backdraft's water barriers and sprints towards Bakugou.

_Can't use Butterfree…_

As much as his mind is screaming at him to use his quirk, Izuku knows that it's no good. Like the heroes already here, Butterfree's power is ill-suited to the situation. Sure, he could use his sleep, paralyze, or poison powder, but there's absolutely no guarantee that they would work on a villain made of sludge. What is certain, though, is that they would work on Bakugou, and the only reason he has survived this long is clearly because of how hard he is struggling against the villain. To put him to sleep or paralyze him would mean certain death.

"Stop, kid! Don't be stupid!" Death Arms calls out behind Izuku, but he can't stop. Kacchan is in trouble.

_I have to get him free._

_I have to get him free._

Izuku dives to the ground to avoid a dumpster launched at him from the sludge villain. It flies over his head, missing him by mere inches. It doesn't deter him from saving his friend.

_I have to get him free!_

Just like it had so many years ago, Izuku's mind supplies the answer he needs. An image flashes through his mind's eye, and his mouth is working before he even knows what syllables are going to erupt.

" _Solosis!"_

It feels just like when he summons Butterfree. There's a draw on his energy, as though each movement costs him twice as much as what it would have before. His mind goes into overdrive, and he's suddenly hyper-aware of everything around him. When his quirk isn't in use, it feels like he's only half of himself. Now, he's everything he needs to be. In the back of his mind, there's something instinctive telling him that using this new summon—a part of his quirk he hadn't even known was so much as a _facet_ of his abilities—is exactly what he needs to get Kacchan free.

"Help me get Kacchan free!" Izuku shouts, not even turning to see his new summon and what it looks like. He's only got the vaguest idea from the image that flashed in his mind—but it's enough that there's a fear that looking at the creature will make him lose any semblance of hope of saving Kacchan.

He jumps at the sludge villain and claws at the ichor around his friends face. Bakugou's eyes are desperate and bloodshot as the sludge covers his nose and mouth and prevents him from breathing.

"Now I've caught _two_ little flies in my web," comes a distorted voice from behind Bakugou. It's the villain himself, Izuku registers somewhere in the back of his mind. The liquid pools around his feet and soaks into his red joggers. As he scrambles to get Kacchan free, strands of it reach up at his ankles, climbing up his skin to trap him like his friend.

"Solosis!" Izuku cries out. Finally, he turns to face his new summon with wide eyes. Just like the image that had passed through his mind's eye, the new creature is small, even smaller than Caterpie was when he'd first summoned the caterpillar at seven years old. More than that, while Caterpie was _clearly_ a Caterpillar, Solosis doesn't look like any creature Izuku has ever seen. It's a small, cell-like creature with a light green body suspended in a darker green gel-like substance. A strange yellow curl adorned the top of its head, and its beady eyes are locked on Izuku.

It doesn't look remotely capable of being able to help, nor does it move at all. Izuku sees it blinks once before he, too, is being pulled into the sludge villains disgusting body inch by inch.

Even with discovering a totally new creature to summon other than Butterfree, Izuku feels totally useless. His instincts are telling him that Solosis is the key to getting Kacchan free. Clearly that's not right, or Izuku just doesn't know how to make the creature help him.

And then Izuku is being pulled away from the sludge even as the villain tries to pull him back in. Izuku feels every inch of himself being pulled free, and his head immediately turns again to his new summon. It's eyes are squinted, a look of utter concentration on it's tiny green face.

_What the hell is going on?_

"Pull Kacchan free!" Izuku cries out. "He can't breathe!"

Bakugou is almost completely submerged now, all that is left to see being his red, tear-filled eyes. But then, like Izuku, more of him begins to be pulled free. He gasps for air as his nose and mouth emerge, and his arms flail as Solosis pulls him free.

_It's telekinetic!_

The truth of Solosis' power becomes abundantly clear, as does the reason his quirk instincts had made Izuku call the creature forth. None of the other present heroes' quirks are of any use against a villain with a power like this. But Solosis, with it's strange psychic powers? It couldn't be more perfect.

"You bastard!" Bakugou turns his body before he's even been fully freed to hit the villain with a series of small explosions. Other than sludge being blasted all over the alleyway, it doesn't seem to have much of an effect. Even as it is blown away, it pools back together to join the bulk of the villains disgusting body.

Izuku is more concerned with getting himself and Bakugou _away_ from the villain than he is with fighting it. He ignores the explosions and grabs his friend under the arms and pulls, backed by Solosis' psychic strength. He feels the power of it pulling on every inch of him, separating him from the sludge and allowing the both of them to get free.

Izuku and Bakugou land on the ground in a heap before the mass of foul-smelling filth. Despite being free of its clutches for the moment, the villain looms over them, his swirling, liquid face morphed into a grimace.

With Izuku's energy spent, Solosis vanishes.

He feels the exact moment when his quirk stops, and just like after Butterfree vanishes, his head erupts with pain so severe it nearly blind him for a moment. His arms and legs feel heavy. Next to him, Bakugou looks just as exhausted. He's glaring with more ferocity than Izuku has ever seen, but he looks as spent as Izuku feels. With the villain before them and Solosis gone, they're both now sitting ducks.

"That was pretty good kid," the villain says in a voice that makes it sound like he's gargling water. "But what're you gonna do now that your quirk's all used up?" The branch of the sludge arcs high into the air, morphing its shape until it vaguely resembles a giant hand about to crush them like bugs.

"Go! He's going to kill them!" Izuku hears the heroes shout from behind them.

Izuku tries desperately to call for Solosis or even Butterfree, but his head feels like it's going to split into two on every attempt. He tries to pull himself to his feet, but Solosis' use of psychic powers to free them from the villain has drained him dry. It's almost like his muscles have atrophied. Bakugou, after struggling against the villain for who knows how long, must be in the same situation. He struggles to rise to his feet despite being more fit and healthy than Izuku in practically every way.

"Fuck you!" he roars. He flips the villain his middle finger before holding his hands out in front of him like he's going for another giant explosion.

The villain's faux sludge hand slices down through the air to crush them. Izuku's eyes close involuntarily. There's a rush of air all around him, but the pain he expects never comes. When his eyes open, he's been moved over towards the wall of the alley, Bakugou next to him on the ground with a bewildered expression. The sludge hand crashes down in front of them hard enough to crack the concrete.

"You kids really are something special," a deep voice permeates all the way down the alley. Izuku would know it anywhere. Not just from earlier when he'd seen him in person, but from _years_ of online videos and podcasts. All Might is here.

_We're saved!_ All Might's incredible speed has already allowed him to move the two of them out of the way of the villains strike.

"But this is my mess to clean up," All Might finishes, appearing before the sludge villain. Even with his gargantuan size he is dwarfed by the villain—yet still he looks to be the more imposing one. Izuku can only see him from the left side, but he registers it immediately when his signature smile disappears in favor of a more determined anger. He looks like the very image of justice, come to smite evil in whatever form it should appear. Everything he does is just so larger than life.

" _Detroit Smash!"_

In an instant, All Might has crossed the gap between himself and the villain and struck with a tremendous muscle-and-quirk filled uppercut. The wind it creates is so utterly powerful that it pins Izuku back against the wall. Mount Lady has to lean over the watching crowd with her giant form to stop them from being blasted away from the sheer strength of it. The Sludge flies off in every direction, completely blown apart from a single strike of All Might's fist.

The whole world seems to stand still in complete silence but for the wind that All Might brought forth with his punch. Then, the crowd roars.

All Might is left standing alone in the center of the alley, his white tee covered in filth but otherwise looking completely unaffected. Izuku's face splits with the widest smile of his life. All Might had saved them like in one of the videos he's watched countless times online, but this time he saw it in person, and it was _him_ All Might saved.

All Might coughs once into his hand, not obvious enough for probably anybody else to notice. For Izuku who's been watching him for years, it's not something he's ever seen his hero do. Even the slightest sign of weakness is unconscionable in All Might, the greatest hero in the world.

All Might lowers his hand. It's spattered with blood. Izuku's smile falters.

_Something's wrong with him._

Where before he was flooded with relief, now he comes crashing back to earth. All Might should never be bleeding. He's faced some of the strongest villains in the world and prevailed, often without breaking a sweat. He should never _bleed._ Izuku's idea of what the world is begins to crumble before his eyes. Such a small thing, one cough of blood, and Izuku's perception changes. All Might is not invincible, not perfect.

All Might turns to Izuku and Bakugou with his signature smile. Earlier in the day it had seemed powerful, but now to Izuku it seems hollow and fake—like it's hiding weakness underneath. It breaks his heart to see it.

"Are you kids okay? That was some fight you put up. You should be proud of yourselves!" All Might booms.

"You coughed blood," Izuku blurts. Bakugou turns to look at Izuku like he's completely lost the plot, but Izuku's eyes are stuck on All Might. Clearly, the other boy hadn't seen it.

For a moment, the hero looks completely taken aback, and Izuku knows in that instant that he definitely saw what he thought. All Might recovers quickly, though, plastering his smile on his face like it's nothing more than an instinct. "Did you hit your head? The paramedics will be here soon to check you over."

All Might launches himself into the air, steaming rolling off him in waves. Izuku has never seen _that_ before, either. "Good job again, kids! You'll make great heroes one day!" All Might shouts as he flies off into the air.

Izuku should be thrilled. He's had one hope all his life—to be a hero like All Might. Now, he knows the potential is there. Clearly, his quirk is more than just the ability to summon Butterfree. Using Solosis, he'd actually been able to save someone!

But an injured All Might shakes his world view to the core. Something is wrong with the very man who inspires Izuku to be a hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the first (I guess second but first was super short and prologue) chapter of the fic! I was really excited about the reception it got! Lots of really nice reviews and questions and stuff which is honestly fantastic, so thankyou all very much.
> 
> Lots of you were wondering about the limits of the quirk. It'll get delved into more in future chapters, but rest assured Izuku isn't going to be able to just summon Legendary Pokes whenever he wants and become an instant powerhouse. As much as this quirk is probably OP anyway, I don't really like OP protagonists, and I usually try my best to make the protagonists struggles seem real and the stakes feel genuine.
> 
> I really really hope you all like this chapter. Got a good reception so I hope y'all trust me to do it justice after this chapter :) Feel free to ask me any questions, and if you want a quicker answer you can always join my discord! It's active every single day without fail at all hours, so no matter where you are in the world there's pretty much always somebody online.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The odor in the alleyway after the encounter with the sludge villain is enough to make Izuku feel like he's choking down poison. The stench makes his eyes water and sting, but he doesn't care. Bakugou is climbing to his feet with all the energy of an eighty-year-old man—unsurprising, given what he's just been through—but Izuku can't bring himself to do even that. He stays where he is, back pressed against the cold bricks of the wall behind him, leftover sludge and muck from the defeated villain slowly spreading towards his feet.

_All Might… Something is wrong with All Might._

The world around him might as well not exist for all that he's paying attention to it. Such a small, fleeting moment, but powerful enough to take hold of his mind even over what just happened with the sludge villain. Just one tiny cough of blood and Izuku's entire worldview shatters and tears at the seams. All his life he's wanted to become just like All Might, the undefeatable, invincible, immortal hero who smiles through every challenge life throws his way. Becoming like All Might means discarding any weaknesses, any doubts. It means shielding oneself from all the anxieties and all the upsets life can throw their way.

Or it's _meant_ to mean that for Izuku. One cough of blood tells Izuku it's all been a lie. One cough of blood to show Izuku that he might never rid himself of his doubts and anxieties—that he might never become a hero, because even someone as amazing as All Might isn't weakness free. If someone with the strength and power of All Might must still deal with his own weaknesses, then what the hell chance does Izuku have? Skinny, weak, weird kid with only one overly aggressive friend and a quirk he doesn't even understand? Izuku's mind spirals into a pit of self doubt and self-consciousness as he lowers his face into his raised knees.

"What the hell were you thinking, kid?" a gruff voice asks from above Izuku. Hands reach under Izuku's arms and hoist him to his feet as though he's nothing more than a naughty child who won't do as he's told. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

Izuku's eyes are wet with tears as he looks into the squared jawed face of the pro-hero Death Arms. His face is set into a firm scowl as he looks down at Izuku, lips pressed together and brows drawn like he's got a foul taste in his mouth. Izuku flinches at the sight of him. With Death Arms in front of him, a combination of anger and disbelief in his eyes, it's enough to lift Izuku out of his sorry state and crash back to reality.

"You were incredibly reckless," Kamui Woods adds as his entirely wooden body comes into view besides Death Arms. "Quirk or not, you can't just run into a dangerous situation like that! There's a reason we heroes need to have a license in order to face villains. You could have gotten yourself and the hostage killed with your vigilantism!"

 _Vigilantism?_ It's stunning to hear the word thrown out so casually. He is no vigilante! Anything resembling hero work without a license has been strictly outlawed ever since quirks started appearing in society, and Izuku is anything but a criminal. His eyes find Kacchan a few feet away, now surrounded by heroes himself. Instead of the scolding that Izuku is getting, however, Bakugou is getting shoulder pats and admiration about his power and bravery. He's ignoring them easily though, staring back at Izuku with a completely indecipherable expression. Izuku's never seen a look quite like it on Bakugou's face.

"M'sorry," Izuku mumbles under his breath, lowering his eyes to avoid the disappointment in the two heroes' eyes. As much as he wants to tell himself that what he did wasn't vigilantism, he knows that in the eyes of the law it absolutely was. His only intention—and considering how much his actions had been instinct more than logical thought, it might not even qualify as an intention at all—was to save Kacchan, but that doesn't matter. He'd used his quirk in public when he himself was not under attack. Against two people, too, even if one of them was a villain and the other his friend. Legally it's not a shade of gray, merely black and white.

_I was a vigilante..._

"You got lucky here, kid. What if your quirk hadn't worked the way you wanted? Pro heroes undergo years of training with our quirks so we understand our strengths and weaknesses. Fortunately, this time worked out for you," Death Arms voice is heavy with judgement.

"But what if things _hadn't_ worked out?" Kamui Woods asks the question that Izuku doesn't want to consider. "By attacking the villain, you forced us to act, too. If All Might hadn't shown up, not only might you and the hostage have died, but us as well. Is that what you want?"

"N-no," Izuku stammers, shaking his head forcefully. "But I couldn't just stand there and watch Kacchan die..." His eyes move once again towards his friend, still studiously ignoring praise from the heroes and now several cameras and interviewers surrounding him. He's watching Izuku with a side eye, but his face is still impossible to read. He doesn't look at all interested in jumping to Izuku's defense, probably too proud to consider thanking him. In fact, if Izuku knows his friend at all, then Kacchan is probably not just going to be thankless, but might even blame Izuku for him looking weak enough to need saving.

Izuku's words at the very least seem to soften the approaches of the two pro heroes standing over him. They share a brief look, almost like a silent agreement passes between them to take it a little easier on him. Death Arms even lets out an audible sigh and rests one of his giant hands on Izuku's thin shoulder. "It was lucky that it worked out this time," he says, tone much softer now, "but the vigilante laws are in place to _protect_ you, not prevent you from being able to help."

"I know," Izuku admits softly, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides like a nervous tic. "I didn't really think before I was moving. Kacchan is my friend, and my legs just kinda… moved on their own."

"You're going to try out for the hero course though, right?" Kamui Woods asks, his previous glare all but disappeared. "You shouldn't have jumped in like that given the circumstances, but you've got the heart of a hero, that's for sure."

On any other day, at any other time, Izuku would feel like he could jump to the moon if a pro hero uttered those words to him. But not now. All it does now is remind him of All Might—of a lifetime worth of dreams that now seem shaken. Every hope and dream Izuku has ever had about becoming a hero has had its source in All Might. Now it all feels so much further away, maybe even too farto reach. All Might is still a hero, yes, the most powerful hero and the symbol of peace, but he's not what Izuku thought. Does that mean that Izuku's dreams aren't what he thought they were, either?

"I-" Izuku cuts himself off before he can say anything. His eyes lower once again and he shifts nervously where he stands, unable to meet their intense gaze. A mere ten minutes ago, that question would've been easy to answer. Hell, ten minutes ago, he was more sure than ever that he could become a hero like All Might. He got Kacchan free when the other heroes in the area could not and also discovered a new aspect of his ever enigmatic quirk—yet it doesn't matter much to Izuku in the face of All Might's problems. How will Izuku ever be able to help anyone if he might never shed himself of the doubts and fears that plague him? How will he shed those weaknesses if even becoming like All Might won't make them go away?

 _How does Bakugou do it?_ He's always so confident, so sure that he'll become an amazing hero. Not only that, but he makes every person around him believe it as well. Izuku can't help but feel inferior in comparison. Bakugou wants to be like All Might too, but Izuku can't imagine that finding out that the number one hero has his own weaknesses would overly bother his explosive quirked friend—especially not that way it has affected Izuku. Bakugou relies entirely on himself. He has no shortcomings, no hindrances on his path to becoming a pro. Izuku wishes desperately he could say the same, but his dream of becoming a hero is so inexorably tied up with the idea of becoming exactly like All Might that it's difficult to see past the revelation of his invincibility being a lie.

If the situation surrounding Izuku wasn't already chaotic enough, it becomes even more so once more heroes and the police arrive in the alleyway. Mt Lady has shrunk down and is speaking to the interviewers and their cameras, even pulling Kacchan into the picture with her as though to siphon some of his five minutes of fame for herself. The police and the other heroes gather all the spattered sludge and muck from the villain. When the villain eventually reforms, he'll wake to find himself in prison.

"Hello there, is this the young man who jumped in to save his friend?" The man that approaches Izuku and the two heroes has black hair, a tan overcoat and trilby hat. Unlike how Death Arms and Kamui Woods had initially approached, however, this man wears a kind and approachable smile. He reaches into his jacket pocket to display a shiny silver police force badge.

"I'm Detective Tsukauchi," he announces, without waiting for any verbal confirmation that Izuku is who he's looking for. "I was hoping to cut in and get a witness statement from this young man, if you don't mind."

Death Arms and Kamui Woods give a quick nod and head over towards Kacchan and the rabble of heroes and reporters. Death Arms turns back after a moment. "No more heroics, kid, okay? Not until you get yourself a hero license."

Izuku nods meekly. As much as he admires heroes, and the two of them particularly as heroes in his local area, he's a little relieved to see them go. In all his daydreams about pro's, Izuku would never once have believed he could be on the receiving end of a hero's lecture. He lets out a sigh. If they're that intimidating towards teenagers they believe headed down the road of a vigilante, it's hard to fathom how terrifying they might become towards a genuine villain.

"I hope you don't mind answering my questions," Detective Tsukauchi says, his kindly smile a firm fixture on his face.

Izuku shakes his head firmly, even offering the detective a wobbly smile of his own. "I-I hope I can help," he says, voice still nervous and shaky. The detective seems nicer than most people, not looking straight through Izuku like he's too plain or unassuming to bother with.

"What's your name?" Tsukauchi asks, tilting his head slightly to the side as he looks Izuku up and down in inspection. Even on the best day Izuku mustn't look like much, short and lacking even the slightest definition, but he must look a _proper_ mess, now. He's covered in mud and sludge, sticking his normal mess of hair to his skin and almost certainly giving the impression of a drowned sewer rat.

"Izuku Midoriya, sir."

Tsukauchi looks around the alleyway, his nose wrinkling at the fading but still ever-present repulsive odor. "Perhaps we should go elsewhere? The station isn't far, and you look as though you could use a hot chocolate."

Covered in mud and sludge from head to toe and reeking like a seldom cleaned public bathroom, Izuku doesn't think that's a terrible idea.

* * *

Izuku has never been inside a police station before. Being brought inside by a detective, even just as a witness to a villain attack, feels a little bizarre. He eyes the handcuffs dangling at Tsukauchi's waist, just hiding behind his open trench coat. If Death Arms and Kamui Woods had been a little tougher with him, it might've ended up with him being charged with vigilantism and paraded through these same doors with his hands behind his back.

The thought makes him queasy.

The interior of the police station isn't particularly well decorated or architecturally fascinating, though he really doesn't know what he was expecting. It's only a two-storey building, with the wall signs indicating the upstairs for more clerical work than anything Tsukauchi would need Izuku for. Instead, Tsukauchi takes him straight through the main doors on the bottom floor and into a bullpen, almost like one would find at any newspaper office. Police officers and suited detectives are sitting at desks across the room, tapping away at their computers and not even looking up to see Izuku, mud and sludge covered and making a mess of the shiny marble floor. Apparently, even his appearance isn't remarkable enough to warrant more than a glance from a room full of police officers.

Tsukauchi urges Izuku towards the door nearest to the entrance of the bullpen, a small desk with a plaque with his name on it. He takes a seat in the black leather office chair behind the desk and gestures for Izuku to sit in the uncomfortable looking wooden chair in front of his desk.

"Oh, uh, I-I don't want to ruin your desk," Izuku reminds nervously. Not only is he filthy, covered nearly from head to toe in dried up sludge and mud from the villain attack, but he also smells like a sewage station, too. The last thing he wants is to have his stench hanging around the detective's desk for days. Not to mention the drying mud and gunk on his clothes is quickly becoming itchy and uncomfortable.

"Oh, of course, I'm sorry," Tsukauchi takes his hat off and places it on his desk. "If you head through the doors back there," he points towards another set of double doors towards the back of the bullpen, "you'll see a sign for the men's locker rooms. Should be empty at this time of day. Why don't you go get yourself cleaned up first? We need to wait for someone else before we get started, anyway."

_Someone else?_

Not that Izuku understands normal protocol in taking witness statements, but he doubts it's normally a job requiring two officers. He eyes Tsukauchi suspiciously. Come to think of it, why would Tsukauchi only call Izuku for a witness statement? Kacchan was the one who nearly died, so shouldn't he be here, too? More than that, what about the heroes who were on the scene before Izuku? They would know much more about how things escalated than Izuku, right?

_Are they going to charge me with vigilantism?_

His heart is thumping like crazy in his chest when Tsukauchi offers him another smile. This time it does little to soothe Izuku's nerves. "Nothing to worry about. Just head back there for a shower. I'll send an officer with some spare clothes. I daresay you'll need a new school uniform…"

His walk to the men's locker rooms feels slow, like a long walk through a hall full of judging eyes. Realistically, he gets barely more than a glance from the officers as he passes between desks, but that's not how it feels. Suddenly, he feels like a criminal walking through a gauntlet of police ready to pounce and lock his wrists in handcuffs. He tries to swallow his nerves, but they remain like gum caught in his throat. He imagines his hands being cuffed behind his back, his mother crying in the corner and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief—all his classmates laughing that now he's _really_ got no chance of ever becoming a hero.

He pushes through the thoughts clouding his mind and finds the locker room easily enough though, and like Tsukauchi had thought, it's empty. Izuku catches sight of himself in the mirror. He looks awful. His normally green hair is brown, dry and feels like straw to the touch—a combination of dried sludge, mud and sweat. Even the most ferocious clean won't rescue his school uniform. Where once it was gray, it's now a sort of brownish green—not to mention still damp and absolutely fetid. He peels the clothes off, wincing as the drying mud and gunk sticks to the hairs on his arms and legs. He heads into the bathroom beyond and steps under the showerhead.

The shower makes him feel about a thousand times better, but only physically. His insides feel like a melting pot of anxiety, fear and complete and utter dread. For all he knows, he's about to walk back out to Detective Tsukauchi only to be arrested for vigilantism. Logically, he knows it's a foolish thought. If he was going to be charged, surely they wouldn't drag it out like this. But then, why else bring him to the police station at all? He'd been too distracted to consider it before, but Tsukauchi's story about wanting to take a witness statement definitely doesn't add up.

Perhaps an official warning? Even that thought feels unwelcome. True, he probably deserves an ear-bashing for technically breaking the law, no matter that the outcome was a positive one. That doesn't mean he relishes the thought of being judged by a local Detective. What if it ends up on his record? Could it be held against him in the future? His potential future as a pro hero feels like it could be slipping further and further away from him.

"Hey, kid," there's a soft knock on the bathroom door. "Tsukauchi asked me to bring you some clothes. They probably won't fit, but they're the best I can do on short notice, sorry." The door opens slightly and arms reach through to place a pile of folded clothes onto the wooden bench next to the bathroom door. The door closes. Izuku tries to shout his thanks, but the words catch in his throat behind his panic. The thought of being arrested, as much as he's trying to convince himself logically that something else is going on, has his brain practically short circuiting.

As the officer suggested, the clothes he'd brought are multiple sizes too big, but the bottoms are elastic so it's not that big a problem. It's a simple gray hoodie with the kanji for Musutafu Police Force etched onto the front in black. The bottoms are simple tracksuit pants. The outfit hangs on his thin frame like a sheet thrown over a skeleton, but it's better than being in his sticky, mud covered school uniform.

When he returns to the bullpen, a tall, thin blonde man is standing in front of Tsukauchi's desk. His face is gaunt and hollow, and his eyes are sunken into his angular face. He has long limbs, and his arms and legs look as though they could very well snap in a firm breeze. His hair sticks up in tufts above his head, with two distinct strands that reach out over his face. He sticks out even next to the skinny and massless Izuku.

"Ah, that must be more comfortable," Tsukauchi says, looking away from his sickly friend and towards Izuku as he approaches. He holds out a styrofoam cup with a lid. Steam billows out the top, and even from a few feet away Izuku can smell the rich chocolate through the open lid. The detective smiles. It makes Izuku swallow his nerves once again. Surely, this is not a man who is about to arrest him. Still, he definitely doesn't believe the detective wants a real witness statement from him, either. Izuku takes the hot chocolate, smiling through his nerves in thanks.

The blonde man stares at Izuku with his sunken eyes and gaunt face, yet somehow the man comes across as a little intimidating. He looks as though he should be lying in a hospital bed, but the intensity of his gaze is bewildering, completely at odds with his delicate frame. He searches Izuku's eyes as if weighing his worth.

"Let's go into one of the interrogation rooms, shall we?" Tsukauchi either doesn't notice the man's staring at Izuku, or was expecting it. Either way, he doesn't mention it, even beckoning for the other man to follow as well.

 _Is he the man the detective was waiting for?_ It was easy to assume it would be another detective, or at the very least another officer. If this stranger is coming as well, it means Izuku's assumptions were right—this is no witness statement. Even without this stranger coming along, heading off to an interrogation room would be an unusual request. If it were just to talk about the incident with the sludge villain, then why not do it here at Tsukauchi's desk?

Izuku doesn't feel like he has the option to refuse, so he steps after the pair as they follow the signs to interrogation, off at the right side of the bullpen. It looks just as it does in the movies, a white room with a metal desk and a groove for handcuffs, and two chairs on either side of the table. A one-way mirror takes up half of the left wall. It's a little disconcerting knowing that there could be officers behind it, watching Izuku as though waiting for him to make a mistake that could see him sent off to prison.

"Um, should I call my mom for this?" Izuku asks. His stomach has re-tied itself into knots upon entering the interrogation room.

"No, no," Tsukauchi answers easily. "You aren't in any trouble, and this probably won't take very long." He smiles again to soothe Izuku's clearly frayed nerves. "There's no reason to worry, I promise."

It makes him feel a little better, but his brain is working overtime to figure out what this could all be about. At the very least, he feels physically safe and comfortable in the heart of a police station, and Tsukauchi seems nice despite the enigma of what Izuku is _really_ doing there.

"Midoriya, I'd like to introduce you to—"

The blonde man coughs into his hand before Tsukauchi can finish introducing him. He lowers his hand to stare into it. His palm is spattered with blood.

Izuku's mind snaps into focus and he sucks in a breath. _"All Might,"_ the words are reverent in his mouth, almost like a prayer. Izuku automatically lifts a hand to cover his own mouth. There's no doubt in his mind now that this skeleton of a man is somehow his all-time favorite superhero. A horrified surprise cuts right through him. Seeing All Might cough blood after the sludge villain was one thing, but this? Surely his mind is playing tricks on him, or All Might has been hit with some sort of bizarre quirk. The man who saved one thousand people in a matter of minutes could not possibly be the same man standing in front of him.

All Might and Tsukauchi look at each other, worry etched onto their faces. All Might lets out a loud sigh.

"Yeah, kid," he admits, though he doesn't seem at all happy to confirm it. It's not too surprising. In his mind's eye, Izuku can see the real All Might appearing, all muscle and heroism against a bright sunrise. 'I am here!' His mind automatically imagines All Might's signature catch phrase, his deep booming voice resonating between Izuku's ears as though the hero had actually uttered them aloud. The imaginary image is a stark contrast with the depressing reality of the man standing on the other side of the table. All Might simply stands there, completely unexpressive.

"I can see why you wanted to talk to him, All Might," Tsukauchi says, letting out a small laugh. "Midoriya here is quite perceptive. Do you want a few minutes alone with him?"

Izuku watches All Might nod, but it's not something that registers in his brain. It's like a bomb has gone off in his brain, evaporating all conscious thought. His greatest hero is before him, a situation so similar and yet so very different from one he has daydreamed of thousands of times. Meeting All Might… getting the chance to ask him questions—it's a dream come true, but not like this. Tsukauchi leaves the room, and All Might takes a seat, looking as tired as his body suggests he must be.

"Take a seat, young Midoriya," All Might sighs. "I think we need to have a chat."

Izuku stares back at him. It takes several long moments to even register what All Might said to him, but eventually he takes a seat too. He doesn't stop staring.

In near an instant, the thin, hollow form of All Might expands until sitting across from Izuku is the All Might he's always known. Muscle bound and heroic in every way possible, to Izuku he looks like the epitome of everything good and pure in the world. This is the man who has inspired a thousand heroes, whose mere presence keeps the crime rate from skyrocketing. The Symbol of Peace and Pillar of Hope. Izuku can't help the smile that spreads across his face, even in the face of knowing that it's not his true form.

"This must make you more comfortable, right?" All Might asks, eyebrow raised in question. Izuku almost nods until guilt curls in his stomach at the thought of what the question really means. Izuku clearly hadn't been able to hide his shock at seeing the frail, weak form that All Might had just been. He's transformed just to make Izuku feel better about seeing him this way. For all Izuku knows, and can realistically infer, All Might is sacrificing his own comfort for Izuku's sake.

Izuku shakes his head firmly, despite it being a lie. His hands nervously grab at the fabric over his thighs. "W-whatever is comfortable for you, is comfortable for me," he stammers out.

With a sound like a rush of wind, along with a brief and faint plume of smoke erupting from his seat, All Might returns to what Izuku can now say for certain is his truest form, enfeebled and weak. Yet in his face and sunken eyes, he doesn't look as terribly weak as Izuku believed. He's offering Izuku a smile—not the same smile that All Might offers the world as a hero, but no less bright, either. It's almost like his true heroism is hiding just beyond the facade.

"That's nice of you, kid. I'm sorry you have to see me this way," All Might says with complete sincerity.

 _That's why he wants to talk to me._ That statement alone is enough for the puzzle pieces to click into place for Izuku. As he thought, Tsukauchi wanted nothing to do with a witness statement. Izuku was brought here to speak with All Might, to ensure that Izuku would keep what he saw—the cough of blood—quiet. All Might cannot remain the world's symbol of peace if the world knows of his weakness, after all. Izuku knows that now more than ever. Just seeing him cough blood once after fighting the sludge villain has sent him hurtling into an abyss of self doubt about whether he can truly become a hero, so why would the rest of the world be any different? Even rumors of All Might not being as strong as the world believes him to be could have their society hurtling into chaos.

"I won't tell anyone," Izuku says, his voice strong. Conviction is written across his face, no hint of anxiety or doubt to be seen. "I swear it. I know how important it is how the world sees you."

All Might laughs, and it surprises Izuku that despite his form it doesn't sound so different from his muscle form. Despite this form being as weak as it clearly is, the heart of a hero still beats inside his chest. All Might is clearly All Might despite his appearance. If Izuku closes his eyes, he'd hear the same All Might that has saved more lives than any other hero.

"You really _are_ perceptive, young Midoriya. I hate to ask you to keep such a secret. Nobody was ever meant to see me like this, but for the good of our hero society, I _have_ to ask."

Izuku shakes his head firmly. "I would _never_ tell anyone. You—" he cuts himself off before he can blurt out what's on his mind.

_Just say it, coward. You might never get the chance again._

Izuku bites his lip. "You're the reason I always dreamed of being a hero. I want to be just like you, All Might!" He leaves his self doubts unsaid. The last thing All Might needs is to hear that while he is the inspiration for Izuku's dream, the revelation of his weakness is making Izuku doubt himself, too.

Izuku has watched countless interviews of All Might on the internet, so he's expecting something like him being proud to inspire the next generation of heroes. There have been countless times Izuku has heard him say such things. But he doesn't say it to Izuku. Instead, his brows furrow, pressed together in contemplative thought. He rests his giant, bony hands on the metal surface of the table.

"Why is it you want to be a hero?"

All Might's question takes Izuku a little off guard. In every interview he's ever seen, All Might never hesitates to state his belief that anyone can become a hero. Yet with Izuku he's asking why?

"I don't—" Izuku starts and stops himself when he meets All Might's intense gaze. He's looking straight into Izuku's eyes, as though trying to peer straight through his retinas and into his brain to read his thoughts. Of course Izuku knows why he wants to be like All Might, but that doesn't necessarily make it an easy question to answer, especially given who's question it is.

"I want to be able to save people," Izuku explains it as simply as he can. If he's really honest with himself, the real answer is far more complicated, but his dream at its core is all about saving those in danger—no matter the cost. "You're always able to save everyone, all with a smile. I know now that you aren't invincible, but that… that just makes me want to be like you more! If I become like you, it means I can overcome all my worst instincts, all my fear and all my anxiety about not being good enough or strong enough…"

All Might continues to stare at Izuku. His expression changes though, almost a mixture of sadness and sympathy for Izuku.

"You will never be All Might," the number one hero says simply.

Izuku's entire world freezes. For a moment, every doubt Izuku has ever had about himself seems true. He's too weak to become a pro hero. Every doubt anybody has ever had about himself: his quirk isn't enough, despite all he doesn't know about its capabilities, he's too small, and lacks all the conviction that someone like Bakugou has in spades.

All Might isn't done, though, and his next words seem completely at odds with the previous. "You have the potential to become an amazing hero, you proved that today, and you were _my_ inspiration."

It only serves to baffle Izuku more. _How could I ever inspire him?_

"I was there, in that crowd, watching as helplessly as all the other heroes."

Izuku frowns. A flash of a memory passes through his mind, of himself pushing past someone in the crowd watching the incident with the sludge villain. All Might. It was definitely him, not his muscular, heroic self, but the one sitting across from Izuku now, too powerless to get involved and save Kacchan. It's hard to believe. For years Izuku has followed All Might's career, watching and reading about his fights with the most powerful villains, and he never sits back helplessly. From the shame that sits heavy on All Might's face now, it's not something that he's admitting lightly.

"Watching you run in to save your friend was incredible. You were afraid, and you ran in without a plan—"

Izuku flinches. Despite All Might saying it inspired him, it almost sounds like the man wants to chastise Izuku for how reckless he'd been.

"I've known some of the greatest heroes in the world, and almost all of them share something in common… Almost all of them said their legs moved without conscious thought. Today, you reminded me of what it means to be truly heroic. It's not about fighting to save people by being fearless, it's about doing the right thing _despite_ your own fears and weaknesses."

Izuku lifts his gaze to meet All Might's, although his own vision is becoming blurry with tears.

"You don't need to become All Might, and you shouldn't," All Might says again. "You're enough on your own, and you will always become a greater Izuku Midoriya than you could ever be trying to become someone else."

Izuku is properly crying now, tears spilling down his cheeks, his nose running with snot. If All Might's words weren't so impactful, it'd probably be embarrassing to be such a mess in front of him. Right now he can't bring himself to care. He feels his earlier anxieties and fears simply fade away. In a bizarre way, it's both dream crushing and dream creating at the same time. Izuku has always wanted to become exactly like All Might, and now he's getting told from the man himself that it will never happen. But maybe it doesn't need to. Izuku is full of weakness, full of doubt and anxiety. But he can't deny that All Might is right, too. When it really mattered, Izuku did his best to save a life despite those weaknesses. Perhaps that's what's really important.

"I didn't just want to talk to you because you saw my weakness," All Might continues despite Izuku's crying across from him. "I saw how upset it made you, and I had to let you know how you inspired _me_. Focus on a new image—not of you becoming me, but of you believing in yourself and becoming your _own_ hero. Go out and show the world that I, Izuku Midoriya, am here!"

All Might isn't just Izuku's favorite hero because he is the most powerful, or the number one hero. It's not even because he's always felt that becoming like All Might would make him infallible. All Might is Izuku's favorite hero because more than anything else, he is truly _good_. He's honest and inspirational, and his words mean something. He's not just telling Izuku what he wants to hear, he's saying it because he believes them to be true.

_I can become a hero…_

_Believe in myself…_

It seems like such a simple concept, but not so simple as just making it happen. One thing is for certain, it's never going to happen without truly understanding his quirk. For so many years Izuku has believed his quirk is summoning Butterfree, but now he knows it's likely far more complicated.

_Kacchan didn't believe I could become a powerful hero with just Butterfree, but what about now?_

Izuku shakes the unwelcome thought from his head. All Might is absolutely right. His journey shouldn't be about becoming All Might, nor should it be about comparing himself to Kacchan. It needs to be about himself, about becoming strong enough to save people on his own, or at least as alone as his quirk allows.

A smile flits across Izuku's face at the thought of his quirk. Of course—he's never actually alone. Butterfree is always with him, and now, probably Solosis as well, no matter that he doesn't fully understand his quirk. Perhaps he doesn't just have to believe in himself. Believing in the creatures he summons… that's the key to his future as a hero. If ever his shortcomings seem too much to overcome, he can look to his strengths, Butterfree and Solosis and whatever else his quirk might make possible.

_I can become a hero..._

* * *

Izuku Midoriya smiles and waves enthusiastically back at All Might and Tsukauchi as he leaves the police station. He'd been blubbery and teary in the interrogation room when All Might had told him what he'd probably been waiting a lifetime to hear, but afterwards he'd been cheery, almost giddy. He talked about his 'Butterfree' like it was family, despite it being a part of his quirk rather than some beloved pet. It doesn't surprise Toshinori. To have a quirk that can summon real living fantastical creatures… this Izuku Midoriya definitely has a unique quirk, perhaps more unique than any he's ever heard of. If he hadn't seen it in action himself, he'd never believe such a quirk could even exist. Even if the boy doesn't truly understand it, it's clear that it's a quirk meant for a hero.

Toshinori and Tsukauchi wave from the front steps of the police station, watching the small green-haired boy until he's around the corner and out of view. It's hard to come to grips with how the day has affected Toshinori. A few hours ago he was fine, wrapping up his daily hero work against a sludge villain who'd taken up robbery. It had gone off the rails quickly. His carelessness meant the villain got away free, and Toshinori had nearly used up too much of his time to prevent the murder of two teenage boys.

It's unacceptable. He's loved being All Might all these years, being the symbol of hope that people could hold in their hearts and that villains everywhere would fear the name of. But if today has proven anything for certain, it's that his time as the Number One hero is at an end. It's all just a facade now, an act to prevent the scum of society from rising like a backed up sewer pipe. He'd decided to pass on One for All years ago, but he's never been more serious about it than today.

"He's a good kid," Tsukauchi whispers, "Death Arms and Kamui Woods were pretty hard on him."

It's not unheard of. Pro Heroes train not just to save lives and defeat villains, but to enforce law and order as well. That doesn't mean they have to arrest every single person who breaks any law, however, and the best heroes use their best judgement in any situation. In seeing a kid save his friend by using his quirk, they'd have every right to arrest him on a charge of vigilantism, but they would be deeply, deeply wrong to do it. Even so, they can't ignore it completely—just scaring Izuku enough to not act so carelessly again must have been their intention.

"You think he might be the one?" Tsukauchi asks quietly. He fixes his eyes on Toshinori, as if staring at him could probe his brain to get the truth of whether he's finally ready to give up One for All and everything it's meant for both Toshinori's life and hero society.

Toshinori takes a long moment to answer. "I'm… not sure," he says. "He's got the heart, I know that much. The way he ran in towards that villain to save his friend, you should've seen it. This kid was full of fear, but he charged anyway. The holder of One for All should have that kind of instinctive courage."

"But?" The question hangs in the air.

Toshinori is silent for several moments more. "My master told me something, once. She believed that anybody has the strength to be a hero who saves people, but not until that person can find strength in themselves."

A part of him wants to ignore his logical side and offer the boy his quirk, to set aside his doubts and finally name a successor, but he can't. Nana Shimura's voice is in his head, telling him to wait. Time might run out as his body slowly degrades, but this isn't a decision that he can take lightly, even if in his heart of hearts Izuku seems like the perfect fit.

"Young Midoriya needs to accept himself for who he is, his strengths _and_ his weaknesses, before I can honestly consider him for my successor."

Tsukauchi nods as though he was expecting just such an answer. He lifts a hand to rest on Toshinori's thin left shoulder. "But you'll be keeping an eye on the kid, won't you?"

Toshinori smiles. His detective friend really knows him all the way through to his core. He's asking questions, but really he already knows that Toshinori will watch the kid's progress with keen interest.

"Whether or not he ever becomes my successor, you better believe that kid has a hell of a future ahead of him. You mark my words, he'll become a _great_ hero."

_Maybe greater than I ever was._

To Toshinori, that's a comforting thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been sitting on this chapter for ages because no matter how much I tweak and rework, I just cannot bring myself to like it. Posting anyway because Im well sick of this chapter and want to get to exciting stuff. NEvertheless I hope you find something to like in it.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this one! It kind of came out of nowhere. A guy on discord floated an MHA idea and thus this plot bunny was formed. Once I had the idea of an Izuku with a Pokemon quirk in my head, I had to write it, despite that I was working on another fic at the time. This is just kind of a prologue to set the rest of the fic up. Rest assured I don't usually post anything with so few words, and I also don't usually do prologues, but it felt right in this case.
> 
> Anyway, I know some of you probably have questions about his quirk and its limitations and stuff, and all of those will be answered in time. Suffice it to say that no, Caterpie will not be the only Pokemon in the fic.
> 
> Feel free to contact me with any questions if you have any, assuming anyone actually reads and likes this. Better yet, join my discord! It's coming up on sixty people and is pretty much dedicated to fanfiction. Theres a place for both readers and writers, readers can post fanfiction recs for others to read, writers can ask for plothelp or promote their own or whatever. It's been a whole lot of fun and I've met some really great people. I've also recently added the Pokemon discord bot which has been a huge hit. 
> 
> https://discord.gg/mT3BTUe


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